Kangaroo Nugget 1 oz gold coin - various years

The Australian Gold Nugget was introduced in 1986 by Gold Corporation, more commonly known as The Perth Mint. This issue of coins had two unique features: a "two-tone" frosted design effect, and individual hard plastic encapsulation of each coin. These features were unusual for a standard bullion coin and gave the Nugget a unique market niche.
They have legal tender status in Australia and are one of few legal tender bullion gold coins to change their design every year, another being the Chinese Gold Panda. Together with their limited annual mintage this may, unlike for many other bullion coins, lead to a rise in numismatic value over the value of gold used.
During the early years until 1989, the reverse of the coins pictured various Australian gold nuggets. The same year the design was changed to feature different kangaroos, a more widely recognised symbol of Australia.
In October 2011, the Perth Mint created a one-tonne gold coin, thus breaking the record for the biggest and most valuable gold coin, previously held by the Royal Canadian Mint. It features a red kangaroo on the front of the coin and a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse.
The regular Gold Nuggets have been minted in denominations of 1/20 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 1 oz, 2 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kg. They should not be mistaken for The Australian Lunar Gold Bullion coins. Both coins are minted by Perth Mint and have 999.9/1000 purity, but Lunar coins use images of different animals from the Chinese calendar instead of the kangaroo.

Since the year of minting 2016, a Perth Mint silver Kangaroo is available as well.

For further information please see the website of the Perth Mint.